[action]
They were until that happened. The suspicions against the clan caused them to be isolated from the rest of the village, the third Hokage disapproved but his advisors didn't listen and that led to mistrust between the two and eventually the suspicions the village had became true, they were planning a coup d'etat to take over the village.
Itachi's role in all this-- he was working on both sides, he was acting as spy for the clan as well as one for village. Instead he put the village first, before the clan. He didn't want another ninja war to start and even though the Third Hokage tried to reason with the clan, it failed and and the elders used his love for the village to their advantage and gave him a mission to kill the entire clan in order to keep peace. [And there just may be some bitterness in his tone right there, because it annoyed him that his brother was forced to sacrifice himself and the clan for the sake of the village. He pauses again, he'll get to the part about himself after that]